


Bloodless Revolution

by Eggtachi



Category: Naruto
Genre: Don't worry he gets eyes again, F/M, Not Beta Read, Original Character(s), Temporary Character Death, We die like Asuma, blind Shisui
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:28:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28781988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggtachi/pseuds/Eggtachi
Summary: The path to peace is never easy, nor is it easy to keep peace achieved, it's far too easy to seek answers in spilled blood. But death is a weight far too heavy for a child to bare. So when an opportunity of escape presents itself it's only natural they cling to it.
Relationships: Uchiha Itachi/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 7





	Bloodless Revolution

**Author's Note:**

> This was a rather simple "what if" that took on a life of its own and casually demanded I essentially rewrite all of Naruto (and is also what I meant to write a fic for like 6-8 months ago but let's not talk about that). But it was fun.
> 
> This is the overly condensed version of exploring what might happen if Itachi took his father's side and successfully brought a semi-peaceful end to the coup and yes I 100% stole Fugaku's line here for the title because it was cool and you know it. Also Shisui lives because I'm too soft to kill him.
> 
> Also this is an OC love story so if that's not ya thing then that's cool too.

"I'm home!" A little voice rang out into the house accompanied by the clattering of wood against its frame. Although the scroll splayed out over Itachi's legs had lost his interest over an hour ago, his brother's return marked the only distraction successful in finally tearing his eyes away from the endless text. Sasuke's feet thumped against the floorboards as he rushed about in search of him. But a five-year-old shouldn't see reason to silence his footsteps in his own home.

"Welcome home, Sasuke, Mother." Itachi rolled up the scroll as he stood, holding it with both hands above his chest to allow space for the boy barreling into his midsection. One day such a hug might knock him over.

"Sasuke, at least let him put the scroll away first." Amusement weaved it's way into the chastising, and his mother's touch didn't need force to pry Sasuke from his side.

"Sorry." Sasuke's eyes portrayed all the repentance he didn't yet have the vocabulary to express, and Itachi tucked the scroll under his arm to reach out and poke the boy in the forehead.

"Hey!" A small red spot appeared where his fingertips had connected, one quickly covered up by tiny hands while chubby cheeks puffed out in childish defiance. Fondness softened the harsh creases concentration had left on Itachi's face.

"It's a beautiful day outside. Why don't you two go spend some time on the back porch while I make lunch?" Mikoto plucked the scroll from his hands with a smile, patting his shoulder as she passed him. Itachi didn't bother to give a verbal reply, instead he simply exchanged his amusement with her as he let himself be dragged out the door by the boundless ball of energy he called his little brother.

"There was a new kid at school today. She was weird." Sasuke's voice lined itself with displeasure as he plopped himself down on the edge of the smooth, cherry wood boards. Excess energy released itself through his kicking feet while the rest of him slumped forward.

"Oh?" The awareness required by Itachi's position as the heir long left him well informed of the political and social mumblings of adults in adjacent rooms. The new classmate was hardly news to him. In fact she had been in the village for nearly a month now. She apparently belonged to a foreign family of apothecaries, all civilians, who had suddenly moved into the village under unknown circumstances. What little he knew of her mostly stemmed from the suspicions of their father though, so he took it with a grain of salt.

"Yeah. She wears these weird clothes and she didn't even know what chakra was. She called it 'soul' or something stupid like that." The significance of her apparent cultural difference wouldn't mean anything to the young children who had no real sense of the world outside the walls of their home, but it likely did cause minor commotion among the adults once the children were gone. There were very few habitable places left in the world isolated enough to completely shelter its people from the increasingly pervasive necessity of shinobi villages and their universal cultural linguistics.

"You should be kinder to her, Sasuke. She's very far from her home. She may have family she's had to leave behind. You would miss aunty Uruchi and uncle Teiyaki terribly if we had to suddenly move far away, wouldn't you?" He placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, watching his wide eyes fill with the anxiety that came with separation.

"We aren't ever going to have to leave though...right?" Sasuke pleaded for a kind of reassurance Itachi wished he could truthfully give. Sasuke was innocent to the politics of his family, and Itachi wanted to keep it that way, but the future of the clan looked more uncertain by the day. So instead he simply smiled and ran his fingers through the raven trusses that so insistently defied gravity. Sasuke's head tilted back, and he felt its weight in the palm of his hand.

"You'll try to be nice, right?"  
"Okay...just as long as she doesn't act annoying." Although the reply was sincere, the displeasure remained. But it was a start.

"Itachi let's play hide and seek!" The boy's mind was ready to move on from the more uncomfortable topics to one of play, and Itachi decided he would at least humor him until it was time to eat. So he nodded, getting up to stretch. Sasuke's face lit up in a kind of simple joy Itachi felt he never personally knew, and the boy covered his eyes with his hands, beginning to count.

The back yard didn't compare to the forest, where every tree and every shadow held ample space for a shinobi to obscure themselves, but it still contained plenty of locations for a ten-year-old to hide.

Itachi settled himself amongst the lower branches of the old oak sentinel that stood rooted beside the walls that encased their section of property. He never did like them until his father introduced him to the nature of those around him. Their house was the only one that had them, he assumed because Fugaku was the clan head. Growing up behind walls within walls within walls; at first they just felt suffocating. But now they gave him a sense of room to breathe. Sasuke made it known that his time was up, and he sighed away the tension that had built up in his chest to allow the tender warmth he'd come to associate with his brother to take its place.

Itachi believed that every moment held an opportunity to learn. Even if the person didn't realize they were learning. To Sasuke, this was little more than a game to pleasurably pass the time. But each tiny burst of chakra Itachi let off to hint at his own location would eventually hone the basic sensory capabilities every shinobi needed to survive. It never took Sasuke very long to find him, and Itachi would always intentionally delay the inevitable when he was the one seeking to keep Sasuke's spirits high. But a child with a competitive nature like Sasuke never minded the shorter rounds, as it meant more competition, better competition. Itachi just liked seeing his brother smile.

They played for an hour or so before Mikoto called them inside to a simple meal of rice, miso, and grilled fish. The food was pleasantly hot and Sasuke regaled her with the many details of their game between large bites.

"Thank you for the food." Itachi took his empty plate to the sink, washing off the last bits of his meal and almost starting on Sasuke's before he was shooed away to go study. So he locked himself in his room to turn pages in books with a vacant stare.

Even though he'd only been a chunin for a few months there was already talk of promoting him to the anbu. It was a political move more than anything. The hokage was aware of the unrest. They needed an inside agent, and with the way things were going, Shisui on his own wasn't good enough anymore. But the Uchiha saw this as their ticket in. A pipeline into the inner workings of Konoha's central power structure. He was little more than a pawn in a silent war; a servant tossed back and forth between two houses who wanted him for their own gain without the hassle of humanity getting in the way. Maybe it would have hurt once, but the cruelty of the world didn't leave him enough room for self-pity.

The pressure behind his eyes and lump in his throat reminded him that his body still felt the pain his mind could no longer process. He forced it away with a numbness that no longer scared him anymore. That night Itachi only left his room to eat dinner, and went to sleep lost deep inside his own mind.

Every waking moment seemed to pull him deeper and deeper into a pit of nothing, to the point that the passage of time seemed flawed and stuttering. The entirety of a week blurred together into little more than a slideshow of people and places that felt familiar and foreign in equal measure, and the rare moments he broke free of his own mental prison during the day were buried in the hours of unconsciousness at night.

It wasn't until Thursday morning, when his breakfast was abruptly interrupted by his cousin appearing by his side and stealing the half-eaten toast out of his hand to stuff it into his own mouth, that the fog finally lifted from his soul.

"Shisui? What are you doing here?" He would have complained about the toast if they were alone, but Sasuke was still at the table and he didn't want to seem childish. Not that it would stop Sasuke from being childish on his behalf.

"That was big brother's! You can't just eat it!" He protested, using his best imitation of an authoritative voice. Shisui merely grinned and held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Sorry. I was hungry. And to answer your question Itachi, I'm here for you." The apology was hardly sincere, but it didn't matter at the moment. At least not to him, Sasuke clearly had other ideas given the pout still heavy on his lips.

"For me? And what could you possibly need me for at seven thirty in the morning?" He turned to face his cousin, half expecting some kind of asinine request. Sasuke's continuation of his protest over the toast never verbalized as their father entered the kitchen, curious but not surprised by Shisui's presence considering his cousin made no attempt to mask his chakra in any way.

"I volunteered to take a low rank scouting mission. It won't be more than forty-eight hours. I'm allowed to choose who I bring along this time and I figured you might want to come." He explained, bowing respectfully to Fugaku before turning his attention back. Worry kept the striking wings of his cousin's lashes lowered and the freedom that offered its proverbial hand through his voice filled Itachi’s body with temptation.

"You should go with him, Itachi. This will be good practice for you." Fugaku's enthusiasm sent a chill down his spine. But he couldn't say no. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to say no in the first place when accepting meant a chance to escape, if only for a little while.

"When do we leave?" Itachi questioned. Shisui's smile grew wide, a sort of boyish grin that hid discomfort behind closed eyes and white teeth.

"Whenever you're ready."  
"I'll meet you outside in a minute." Itachi was already getting out of his chair. Shisui gave him a salute and vanished from the room. Itachi could feel the heavy weight of his father's gaze as he walked up to his room. He kept all his supplies neatly arranged by his door so he was down the stairs and giving his brother a small hug just as quickly as he had left the table.

The fresh air outside felt almost as good as the weight of his position dropping from his shoulders, and their combination brought him brief euphoria. Shisui was waiting by the wall.

"It's that bad huh?" Shisui placed a warm hand on his shoulder, he'd forgotten the warmth of companionship in the stressful haze of anticipation.

"Yeah...they're talking of putting me in the anbu." He didn't want to elaborate on it more than that, and he didn't need to.

"Well, this mission is safe. We don't even need to leave the village. No fighting, no anbu." Shisui stopped Itachi’s hand from covering his eye, lacing their fingers together as he pulled him out from the shadow of the entryway onto the compressed dirt path to the compound entrance. Itachi wasn't given time to dwell on the flashes of blood, masks, water, and wires that had tainted pleasant memories of cooked fish and crackling fire.

"...it's the family isn't it. The ones who moved here last month." His guess received no verbal confirmation, but the gentle squeeze of his hand gave him his answer.

"Why? Does the hokage not trust them?" His stomach churned at the thought of what might happen to someone Sasuke's age if her parents were put under suspicion. The girl didn't deserve such pain. No child did.

"I think it's closer to curiosity on top of standard precautions. Apparently they're here with support from Lady Tsunade herself so I doubt he questions her judgement. I was given permission to carry out the mission as I saw fit and when I asked if I was allowed to openly engage them he said yes." The two of them took to the rooftops as he spoke. Though no longer physically connected, Itachi could still feel the warmth and he let himself take a moment to appreciate what he'd forgotten. 

"What is he curious about?" The pair landed themselves in the shadow of one of the many water tanks that dotted the skyline of the Konoha cityscape. The small storefront the family had been provided sat nestled between a boarded up storage building and little row houses that continued west down to the main road. It's main doors opened to look down another of Konoha's many side streets, and the family of three emerged from inside.

The girl was a chipper bundle of energy who immediately dragged a large plywood sheet off to the side of the building and started throwing the standard practice kunai at the large target drawn on it in charcoal. Her aim left quite a bit to be desired but to her credit she at least hit the plywood consistently, which was more than he could say for some of the students he'd trained with. Her body had yet to grow into itself, looking clumsy and unsure as most children did. Her auburn hair reflected its reddish tones in the late morning sun with each throw. The large, drooping collar of her pale green shirt reminded him of his own clan's choices in attire, the Aburame's too. If one of his shirt collars could no longer hold its own weight he would have the same result. The cream color of her shorts made the pale skin of her little legs appear warmer in tone and clashed with the navy blue of her sandals.

Her father had busied himself with a large wooden sign. He hoisted it up onto a table where a bottle of ink and a brush resided. A large, callused hand gripped the brush handle with a gentleness that didn't match his rugged appearance, and his brushstrokes were surprisingly eloquent and steady. Broad shoulders pressed against the fabric of his dusted brown shirt, one that shared the same collar style as his daughter, while muscular arms filled in the large, short sleeves. His legs held evidence of extended travel; long, faded scars disappeared under the dark fabric of his shorts and from Itachi’s vantage point he could see the edges of the well worn soles of his brown strapped sandals. Even slightly hunched over he was about the same height as his own father. He had to be at least a hundred seventy-eight centimeters (5'10") tall, possibly taller. A shaggy mop of rusty brown was tied back into the imitation of a ponytail and a mess of bangs shaded his eyes from Itachi's view while the beginning of stubble tinted the pale skin around the edges of his face.

Her mother was tiny standing next to him, she barely reached the man's shoulder and was easily only half as wide with her tapered waist and narrow hips while slender hands gripped the handle of a broom that nearly equaled her in height. She wore a plain looking haori, possibly made of linen, underneath which was a larger version of the shirt her daughter wore. A long skirt of faded green covered her legs while dainty feet were supported by similar brown sandals to those of her husband. She was a porcelain doll beside a beast and he couldn't help but think about how easily someone like her could bruise and bleed on a journey from wherever it was they came from to reach her daughter. He commended all three of them on their strength and fortitude.

"The father's name is Seiji Tachibana, the mother is Nanami Tachibana, and their daughter is Naomi Tachibana. Apparently they were rescued from the swamplands that border the land of hot water. Their daughter was escorted back separately from them, and she was here alone for a little over twenty days. Her parents just got here ten days ago." The grimace in Shisui's tone reflected in disgust on Itachi's face. Naruto had been left alone too. He was still alone, although he now had Iruka checking in on him regularly it seemed. Still, it was cruel, sickening, and no one seemed intent on changing it either. But he pushed the thought away to focus on his current mission, Shisui couldn't change the nature of the job, no matter how much both of them wanted to.

"You said they were rescued from the swamplands. Were they being held hostage there?"  
"Apparently that's where they come from. That's what has the hokage curious." Itachi was fully intrigued by this information as well. The large swathe of swampland stretched along their border with the land of hot water up to the north almost to The Valley of the End where it was confined by the vast mountains and cliff-faces. It was all considered null territory and for good reason too. It was saturated in deadly poison that permeated through the flora, the fauna, the water, even the very air itself. It was a giant infection that nature only seemed to just barely contain through its connected sense of self preservation, leaving behind a toxic scar no one dared touch. The few power-hungry enough to throw their common sense aside invariably tainted themselves with the contagion; left to suffer a violent death from the inside outward.

It hadn't started out so damning. It used to only be the innermost forests that kept everything at bay. The outer layers were a place of quiet disposal during the warring states period and that trend continued into the beginning of the first shinobi world war. But as the war drew on the land rebelled and rejected the death man brought to it by bringing its own death back to man.

Some believed the vengeful souls of those left to die were responsible for the drastic spread, others blamed higher powers or the very earth itself. Whatever the reason, the land became uninhabitable. And yet this family of civilians supposedly made their home there?

"Did he tell you anything else?" Itachi looked to his cousin for answers, but Shisui seemed to want answers just as much as he did.

"I did a quick pass on my way to get you. Take a look at them with your sharingan." Shisui added, tapping his shoulder. Itachi let his chakra flood his eyes, the world changing to fill with the pale blues of chakra signatures, including his cousin's beside him and the family in three below them. All four signatures burned bright and the flickering blue overflowed their forms.

"Their presence doesn't match their power at all. And for them to even have this level of chakra to begin with, do you think they're shinobi after all?" Chakra suppression this advanced took a lot of training for the average shinobi. He wasn't exactly average, but he knew enough who were to get an idea of a time frame.

"Take another look. Compare their daughter to them." Shisui never gave him a straight answer, as so many loved to do, but it was opportunity to learn and he craved those moments more and more as he grew. He looked back and observed the signatures again. What was Shisui seeing that he had yet to notice? What about their daughter differed? His eyes turned back to Shisui.

Every chakra signature was unique to the sharingan, but it was only unique in feel. Visually they all looked more or less the same so between the four samples he hoped the differences would stand out more. Shisui's signature burned brightest at his core, all shinobi had that trait; from the genin to the hokage himself it always concentrated in their center, stored and complied to allow for jutsu to be cast in rapid succession. Their daughter had it too. It was weak, much like other academy students, and much of her chakra flowed through her unchecked. Her parents had a concentration even smaller than their daughter's, merely a speck of brighter blue the size of a single water drop, and were it not for the fact that they were effectively standing still he might not have noticed it at all.

"It's completely uncontrolled...no. Not completely. It's like a circuit. It flows through them in a set cycle but much of it is wasted. Their daughter has an impressive concentration for just a month of training." He guessed, and he felt fluster curl in his stomach when Shisui's smile filled with pride. It wasn't that big a deal, but he liked the sincerity in the silent praise too.

"I'm gonna go talk to them." Shisui vanished from his side and appeared on the street out of their line of sight. His gait was casual and friendly well before he reached them, and the family quickly took notice of his approach.

The girl took immediate shelter behind her father as Shisui got closer, peeking out from behind his legs. He watched Shisui greet them and introduce himself. He knelt down to be closer to their daughter's height and motioned with his hands in an attempt to coax her out. Her father's hand covered most of her back as he eased her forward. Shisui bowed his head to her in greeting and she quickly mimicked him.

He couldn't hear what was said, but the girl was battling with her fluster while her parents returned to what they were doing, deeming him safe to leave somewhat unattended. Shisui matched the animated energy they had seen from the girl before as he conversed with her and the tendencies of the human mind did the rest. The simplicity of children made them vulnerable to the manipulation. Loose lipped children and gossiping housewives were deep wells of private information outclassed only by the petty whining and haughty bragging of drunken nobles.

Shisui had engaged the girl in looking at his tools. Although she seemed hesitant to hold them herself she was endlessly pleased to watch him sink one into the bullseye from where he sat. Her parents both made comments that his cousin seemed to respectfully deny.

Through exposure the parents began to open up to the friendly stranger entertaining their daughter. But would they still be so friendly if they knew that same stranger had flee on sight orders in all other nations? In a world where deception was necessary, such a non-threatening appearance made him all the more dangerous. Itachi could feel envy start to take hold. Shisui had a way with people, an understanding of them that Itachi felt incapable of achieving. All he could do was watch his cousin work his magic and wish he were the same.

Shisui entertained their interest for almost half an hour, even watching the girl struggle to make persistent clones for a few minutes, before excusing himself and continuing past them, receiving a warm farewell for his troubles. He was well out of their sight before he returned to their post and the cheerful facade dropped to something more troubled.

"What did you learn?" Itachi watched his cousin mull something over in his mind before he let out a rare defeated sigh.

"They told me they come from a tribe. They didn't say exactly where the tribe lives but their avoidance could only mean it's somewhere inside the swamplands. I don't get it. Even if they somehow got there during the warring states era a hundred or so years is hardly any time at all in human evolution. They couldn't have adapted that quickly without some kind of aid." Shisui crossed his arms and leaned back against the tank.

"But that would require a kind of genetic understanding that not even some of the most dedicated ninja out there have achieved..." Itachi looked back down at the family, watching the girl stop her training to aid her father in carrying a few empty boxes down to the end of the street to be collected. He had to will away the vision of a particular pale sannin that tried to manifest in the back of his mind.

"Either that or a streak of dumb luck long enough to be divine intervention. They were honest with me, it just doesn't add up in a way that makes sense. I think they might be sensory types too. They noticed me pretty early, but I was also the only moving object in the area too so it could have been that...what I find most interesting is that they recognized the Uchiha name. For a family from somewhere as isolated as the swamplands they knew a surprising amount of our clan's accomplishments...either way, we should get going. How about I take you to get some dango after I make my report?" Shisui relaxed and offered his hand as he stood. Itachi reached out, allowing Shisui to pull him up, but unwilling to let go of his hand so quickly.

"She's cute isn't she; the kid..." Shisui's eyes reflected the worry that filled his voice.

"What's wrong?"  
"It's nothing. I just hope it stays nothing." Shisui shook his head and pulled him along, making sure they wouldn't be seen leaving. Itachi took a final glance back at a picturesque vision of a happy family that obscured itself behind the rooftops.

"Dango sounds good." Itachi answered his cousin's earlier question. The laughter that rumbled in his cousin's chest brought a smile to his face. The sun now high in the sky warmed his back and he took a moment to enjoy the peace his cousin always seemed to provide. Wishes wouldn't promise him more missions like this with his cousin, but he made them anyway. Even though the prospect of the anbu still clutched at his chest, he had Shisui to give him respite from its pain. Shisui offered him the safe haven he so desperately needed. He would be okay.


End file.
